WPL 2023: Saika Ishaque's journey from Park Circus slums to Mumbai Indians' dressing room

Spin bowling coach Shibsagar Singh with Saika Ishaque.

Park Circus, a neighbourhood in Kolkata with restaurants on one side of the tram line and educational institutions around the gigantic maidan, besides the slums adjacent to the railway tracks, is not known for cricket. The area is sought-after for biryani and Mughlai cuisine. But Saika Ishaque is weaving new dreams among the girls from the lanes and corners of the locality where women wear a burqa and typically stay away from sports.

Bengal spin bowler Ishaque is now Mumbai Indians' (MI's) operator-in-chief with the ball. The 27-year-old uncapped player is currently the highest wicket-taker of the inaugural Women's Premier League with nine scalps in three outings. She returned figures of 4/11 on debut against the Gujarat Giants and maintained consistency with 2/26 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and 3/13 against the Delhi Capitals.

The Women's Premier League (WPL) has been a boost to Ishaque, bought by MI for Rs 10 lakh, as she is the sole earning member of her family after losing her father in 2008. Former India cricketer and erstwhile national selector Mithu Mukherjee helped Ishaque chart the right path under spin-bowling coach Shibsagar Singh. "Her house is in a slum area. She lost her father when she was young, and her mother had to work as a domestic help to run the family. There was financial stress, and she did not even get to study. She has a sister who got married," Mukherjee tells moneycontrol.com.

Gutsy and team player

Mukherjee highlighted that Ishaque isn't an inexperienced youngster in the middle. The cricketer did the hard yards with Bengal U-19 and U-23 teams before playing for the senior side. "She is gutsy and a team player. She encourages her teammates. If people are down and out, she keeps everyone alive and is always high in spirits," she says.

Ishaque appeared in the Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy last year and tasted success. "People were happy with her performances. Someone gifted her shoes, the Cricket Association of Bengal gave her a kit, Shibu (Shibsagar) bought her various kits and also bought her lunch when necessary like she was his daughter," says Mukherjee, who played four Test matches for India between 1985 and 1991.

Technical adjustments and bowling to male cricketers

Ishaque suffered a shoulder injury in 2018 and lost two years while recovering. On returning to action in 2020, she couldn't find the rhythm and got dropped from the side. Mukherjee sent Ishaque to Singh in October 2021 to lay the platform for a comeback. "She wasn't part of the Bengal team when she contacted me. I had to fine-tune the technical aspects of her bowling. She was leaking runs and not picking up wickets. She is brave and a quick learner, and it did not take long to get her lengths right. She needed a bit of control in her bowling, and that's where I came in.

"She needed a bit of adjustment in bowling action. And I tried to make her understand how T20 and ODI demand different types of training. The line and length difference in the two formats. You have to cramp the batter, so you have to bowl a particular length, and I knew her problem areas," says Singh, a former Bengal cricketer.

Ahead of the WPL, Singh trained Ishaque with the male cricketers in the East Bengal club in Kolkata. "She can bowl in any situation: the powerplay and at the death, and is not afraid to bowl at batters who attack," he adds.

'Deserves to play for India'

During her tenure as national selector, Mukherjee tried her best to pick Ishaque but couldn't do it eventually. "All the selectors are watching the WPL, and she is playing under India captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Since Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav are the established spinners on the side, she could not break in. I tried my best but could not make it happen. She deserves to play for India. I think selectors will rethink after the WPL. At present, she is the best left-arm spinner in India. And she is a handy batter who can hit the boundaries. I have seen her open the batting too. She is an excellent fielder as well," adds Mukherjee.

Ishaque has dismissed top batters such as Meg Lanning, Sophie Devine, Shafali Varma and Jemimah Rodrigues in the ongoing WPL, and there will be more as MI eyes the knockouts. Buying biryani for the neighbourhood could be a reality soon.